Compulsory Attendance

Compulsory attendance laws are written by each state to require school attendance for children of certain ages. Some states require students to begin school at age 5, many mandate school attendance at age 6, and a few allow children to wait until they are 8 years old. All children must continue education through high school and the age of the student varies by state. Most states also require a certain number of instructional days. Parents are held legally responsible for their children’s school attendance, and can face penalties such as fines or jail sentences if their children fail to meet minimum requirements.

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Requiring Students to Stay in School LongerSeveral states in recent years have studied or actually implemented changes in theirs laws increasing the age to which children are required to attend school. The New Jersey legislature is currently considering a bill to raise the mandatory attendance age from 16 to 18 years of age citing statistics that show high school drop outs are more likely to live in poverty, be unemployed or end up in jail. Home school advocates and other opponents, however, say that requiring students to stay in school will not achieve the goals of higher graduation rates and reducing juvenile crime. Opponents cite difference research that tends to show no evidence that requiring kids to stay in school longer reduces juvenile crime. They also point to the added burden on taxpayers for additional classrooms and teachers for more students and that students who do not want to be in school create disruptions resulting…